“Salvation” is a tricky topic. As a child, I remember being told that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Forever. Then I grew up and read the Bible for myself. Now I know that there is a bit more nuance than what I was told as a boy.
On this site, I give the standard “gospel message” that is told in most Bible-believing churches. I follow it and it is what has saved me. It is a good message and is the way to eternal life as a saint (follower, believer, elect, etc.). But then I learned something else, not that long ago. I learned that there is more to the story that includes others who do not have that saving faith. It’s kind of a big deal and what this post will be about.
Lyrics — The Whole Of It (cinematic)
What I was told was simple—
good ones up and bad ones down
I found a fuller story
than the one going around (and round)
There’s more than what was driven
there’s more than what was said
Two paths of mercy given
more than living or just dead (just dead)
One path leads to glory
One path is life renewed
The saints who know the story
The nations who are few (too few)
Now I know the whole of it —
I know more than I knew
The saints are caught in midair
while the nations’ net is true
Faith that takes you higher
mercy for the rest
salvation in the choir
recovery in the quest
The ones who go to glory
by faith are fully changed
nevermore to worry
nevermore estranged (yeah-yeah)
The nations’ path is judgment
the way they lived and gave
they’ll find out what the Judge ment
when the fire has been staved (be saved)
Being caught while in the air —
salvation, pure and true
Being caught down in the net —
is mercy for the few (too few)
Now I know the whole of it —
I know more than I knew
The saints are caught in midair
while the nations’ net is true
Faith that takes you higher
mercy for the rest
salvation in the choir
recovery in the quest
flying up to Jesus
is better than I knew
falling in His mercy
is better than you’re due (your due)
Don’t wait for the trumpet —
don’t wait ’til it is through
find out what the Word meant
shining light on down to you (to you)
Faith will lift you higher
grace can hold you true
rescue from the fire
is bigger than you knew (you knew)
The story still is simple
for anyone to know
it just does not resemble
the tale that’s in the flow (no, no)
Now I know the whole of it —
I know more than I knew
The saints are caught in midair
while the nations’ net is true
Faith that takes you higher
mercy for the rest
salvation in the choir
recovery in the quest
Two Paths | Two Humanities
Two humanities? Yeah, weird, right?
The first humanity or human race is you and me right now, as we are. Mortal. Limited. Depraved. I call us Humanity 1.0. But then there will be an upgrade to Humanity 1.0 that I call Humanity 2.0. That’s where the Manufacturer adds to what we are now with a whole new nature. Better. Immortal. Perfect. Higher abilities.
Two paths? Yep. One path keeps us on the Humanity 1.0 track, and the other path takes us to Humanity 2.0. For some reason, this is not widely taught, if at all.
Path One | Humanity 1.0
If you stay on the path you’re on, not having faith in the death of Jesus as atoning for your fallen nature, that I attribute to spiritual DNA (the Depraved Nature of Adam), then you will be judged by Jesus according to how you conducted yourself while on this broken planet. It is a works-based judgment and will only take you so high into the afterlife. This path does not ever lead to what we call sainthood, or perfection. In fact, if you die on this path, you will never reach the highest potential of the human race. Ever. (No Purgatory or other thing to work through in the afterlife.)
Path Two | Humanity 2.0
If you are able to receive the faith in Christ that God offers to you (as a gift), then accept it, then live in it, then never turn from it, then you will become a member of Humanity 2.0 when Jesus comes back. This is based entirely on your faith, as given by God, and has nothing to do with what a great person you are. It has nothing to do with religion of any kind. In fact, religion might contribute to you missing out on it. That’s because religion is performance based. Faith is not performance. Faith is certainty in the heart and mind that Jesus paid your debt, so to speak. A different path entirely.
The Change
When Jesus comes back, He will be bringing God’s wrath (anger) with Him. He will appear up in the sky and start an air campaign of destruction that will be a global trek all around the world, not missing anyone anywhere. Every eye will see Him and His angels up there while they’re pummeling the earth with all kinds of fire and brimstone, to use an old phrase. Scary? It should be. It will happen and no one will escape the events. But some will survive.
The wrath of God lasts 150 days. I know this because the Bible tells me that only one of the things He (Jesus) does then has a timestamp on it—5 months. In the prophetic way of counting months, each and every month is exactly 30 days. 5 months = 150 days. This is in Revelation chapter 9. No other event needs any timeframe at all to be accomplished. So I just go with 150 days and it works out really well with everything else I see in the End Times.
Halfway through those 150 days, at day 75, is when something amazing happens. The ones who follow Jesus by faith and faith alone will be converted, updated, enhanced into Humanity 2.0. It’s called “glorification” by the college boys and pastors. Another term is “perfection”, which is a bit more clear about what it is. It is exactly that; getting perfected, by losing the old nature of corruption and depravity, and taking on a whole new body that doesn’t have any corruption and never will. That is the good news. And when does God’s wrath begin? Right after the time called the “Tribulation”. That is a time of 7 years of trouble, terror, horror that is brought on the world by Satan (heard of him?) and his number one human, the antichrist (heard of him too?). So, 7 years of satanic terrorization, followed by God wiping out those in Satan’s camp who have been following him. And God’s turn is only 150 days, not the 2,520 days of Satan’s temper tantrum. Satan is mad because his time is almost up at that point.
How do I know the glorification or perfection of Humanity 2.0 will happen 75 days after the tribulation? Easy to understand, not so easy to figure out. Here is the way I got it. It’s a little math-oriented but the arithmetic is not hard. First, we go to the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible. There, we can gather some numbers that seem pretty cryptic. But I’ll show you how to put them together right now.
Daniel 8:14 says, “He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.'” File that number away in the memory of your calculator.
Daniel 12:12 says, “Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” File that one away too. Both numbers will be used soon.
One thing to keep in mind is that each month is 30 days, no matter what month it is. This is just the way the prophetic calendar works. And it must be this way. Then we look at the 7 years of the Tribulation. 7 times 360 is 2,520 days using this calendar. 360 is how many days there are in a year of 30-day months. So the tribulation is a time of 2,520 days. If we add those 75 days to this 2,520 we get 2,595 days. That was easy. Now let’s complicate it and verify it using those other numbers we stored away. We already have our day that we need, this is just how to double check it.
The Double-Check Method
To double check this, we’re going to see if it matches up with other things that Daniel tells us. He says that there will be a set of seven (the tribulation) and that halfway through that time the sacrifices will be stopped and some terrible stuff will begin to happen. That is the beginning of what we call the Great Tribulation, which is the second half of the 2,520-day tribulation. It’s actually when Satan and his fallen angels will be finally cast down to earth (the physical realm) from the spirit realm. So, what is half of 2,520 days? 1,260. And now we can start using those other two numbers that we filed away. Let’s take 1,260 and add it to 1,335. What do we get? 2,595! Isn’t that interesting? So what do those numbers mean again? 1,260 is the first half of the tribulation and 1,335 is when some people will be “blessed”. But who is blessed? Great question. Here’s how we find out. It’s cryptic. We have to go back to the first number I gave you, 2,300. And look at what that number is for: when the sanctuary, meaning the temple is made right or restored. Is this the actual temple that is built in Jerusalem? Well, this is where it gets tricky. Yes and no is the answer. The temple will be built in Jerusalem. It is an actual, physical building. The Jews will build it. But the temple being made right or restored is something altogether different. And we need to realize that the followers of Jesus by faith are now (and then) the “temple of God”. See 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” So the cryptic thing is putting two and two together here. First we know that the temple building will be built and then we know that the actual temple is God’s people, the saints (saved by faith). And when we added our numbers together 1,260 + 1,335 we got 2,595. And now we can surmise who those people are. They are the saints of Christ. And when those saints become perfected, it is when the “temple is made perfect” (restored, made right). See how this works out? Two sets of numbers lead us to one day, and putting 2 and 2 together we see who it is that is being “blessed” on that day. And this perfection has two names, depending on whether it happens to the living or the dead saints. If the living, it is called the “rapture“; if the dead, it is called the “resurrection”. And Paul shows us how those two things both happen on the very same day.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
And by the way, this also shows us when the actual, physical temple building will be completed. We take that 2,300 days count and subtract it from the 2,595 days. That gives us 295 days. And now we know how long it will take for the temple to be built, and when the living saints (those who are blessed) will be raptured. And since the resurrection happens immediately before that, on the same day, we know when the resurrection will happen too.
The Big Objection
I can hear it already. “But no one knows the day or hour! Baah!!” Ha ha, well that’s no problem at all. When we go and see what Jesus actually said — what they are referring to — we will quickly see that it’s not what they are screaming about. Here’s the quote of our Lord: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) Okay, let’s unpack this. First, He said no one “knows”. That is present tense, not future tense. There is nothing in that statement that is future tense. It also says that not even He (Jesus) will know. Now that part is also in question because not all manuscripts (early Greek copies) agree with this. Many don’t have that part. Thirdly, and this is the thing that should make them be quiet, He says no one will know the day or hour. Day or hour, especially put together, puts it into another category altogether. He means no one can say exactly when that happens to the hour. And remember, He did not even know (if that’s what He truly said) because He used the present tense of “Know”. Of course He did not know at the time He said it because He was not using His ability to know everything, including the future. He only prophesied the events because the Holy Spirit was giving Him the information. Why didn’t Holy Spirit tell Him the day or hour? You can ask Him. I think God likes to keep things interesting and a little cryptic.
Did you get all of that? I just told you when the resurrection and rapture will happen and when the 3rd Temple will be built. Cool, huh. But when does the count start? Well, this adds to the nobody knows the day or hour thing. It is not expressly given. But we can surmise. If we look at what happens to kick off the tribulation, we see that there is an invasion from specific countries into Israel. And then we see a meeting that takes place over a conference table. That is found in Daniel too.
“And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.” (Daniel 11:27)
I think that this is when the countdown begins. It’s the only certain event that will be trackable at that time. Who knows how long an invasion lasts? Impossible to say. But a conference table meeting is a specific event on a specific day that can be tracked and recorded. So there you have it. When we see Israel attacked from the north (and really all sides) by a very specific list of countries in a coalition, we will know that all we need do is see when they come to an accord at a conference table meeting. Then on that day the count begins. Simple? Cryptic? Not easy to ascertain? But once seen, it cannot be unseen.
I left out a lot of information, but you can read Matthew 24 & 25, along with Ezekiel 38-39, and Daniel 11:21-45 for the juicy details. So that whole thing was about the people who become glorified or perfected into Humanity 2.0. Ready for Humanity 1.0?
The Continuance
Now let’s look at those who are NOT changed. Those who are kept mortal and do not take on a new nature. It’s those who are not saved by the Gospel of Christ by faith. They never had the faith it takes to enter into Humanity 2.0. This will be about Humanity 1.0. For this, we go to Matthew 25:31-46.
The Sheep and Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)
To save time, I’m just going to tell you that this is AFTER the resurrection and the rapture have already happened. Those things happened on day number 75 of His wrath before He sits on His throne on Mount Zion. He has already arrived, finished His work of doling out the wrath that the earth deserves, and is now commencing with His first judgment of the thousand-year time called The Millennium. There will be another (final) judgment at the end of that thousand years. This is not that.
And Jesus told Nicodemus that there is no judgment for those who believe (that is the saints who are already perfected by this time—John 3). So these people are not saints, saved by faith. They are another group entirely. They are the Sheep and the Goats.
Sheep go on the right and Goats go on the left. Sheep get to stay in the kingdom and the Goats have to go into the Lake of Fire (ouch). Here’s how it will go (by the way, this is not a parable; it’s narrative of an actual event):
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40)
Do you see how this has nothing to do with faith? It is all about behavior — specifically, how they treated His believers. And these folks are not believers, or else they’d be saints by now, not getting judged. This means that there will be two kinds of people in the Millennium: mortals allowed in by their behavior (Sheep), and immortals saved by faith (Saints). It isn’t another way into sainthood, it’s like a safety net under the trapeze. Getting caught in the air is salvation; falling to the net is mercy. Easy enough? I won’t even talk about the Goats right now, but you can read about them in my books Sheep To Nations, The Hope That is In Me, and Their Worm Does Not Die. (At the time I’m writing this, the last two books are not yet published.)
Now what did we learn? We learned that there will be two kinds of humanity beginning with the Wrath of God, at the return of Jesus, while He is still in the air. We learned that one group is what we call “saved”, or “saints”, and we learned that there will be people who are not saved or saints and also get to live on in the Millennial kingdom. And it has a lot to do with timing and everything to do with faith.
So, while you still have time, I highly recommend you ask God to give you the faith that is needed to become a saint, so that you don’t have to depend on your behavior to enter into a lower form of “salvation”, that is not at all on the level of those saved by faith alone in Jesus alone. Because if you don’t measure up, you might have to take a lava bath in the Lake of Fire. And whether or not that is eternal is discussed in my two new books, not even out yet as of the day I’m writing this. They are, again: The Hope That Is In Me, and Their Worm Does Not Die. If this reading here gave you something to think about, those two books will really spur on some deep thought.
Be blessed,
Gary
